The
Purpose of the Millennium
in the Plan of Salvation
In
the revelations found in the Doctrine and Covenants, the purpose of the
Millennium in the plan of salvation can be discovered. Consider
the following statements:
D&C
133:21-25
21 And he
shall utter his voice out of Zion, and he shall speak from Jerusalem,
and his voice shall be heard among all people;
22 And
it shall be a voice as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a
great thunder, which shall break down the mountains, and the valleys
shall not be found.
23 He
shall command the great deep, and it shall be driven back into the
north countries, and the islands shall become one land;
24 And
the land of Jerusalem and the land of Zion shall be turned back into
their own place, and the earth shall be like as it was in the days
before it was divided.
25 And the
Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and
shall reign over all flesh.
D&C 45:59
59 For the Lord shall
be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will
be their king and their lawgiver.
D&C 101:25
25 And also that of
element shall melt with fervent heat; and all things shall become new, that my
knowledge and glory may dwell upon all the earth.
D&C
84:96-98
96 For I, the Almighty,
have laid my hands upon the nations, to scourge them for their
wickedness.
97 And
plagues shall go forth, and they shall not be taken from the earth
until I have completed my work, which shall be cut short in
righteousness--
98 Until
all
shall know me, who remain, even from the least unto the greatest, and
shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and shall see eye to eye,
D&C 88:107
107 And then shall the
angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the
saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance
and be made equal with him.
D&C
43:29
29 For in mine own due
time will I come upon the earth in judgment, and my people shall be redeemed and shall reign with me on earth.
It can be
seen that those who have come to know God are made equal with
God. They will be taught how to rule and reign with Christ in the
eternities. The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that those who
receive the celestial glory are made equal with God:
D&C 76:92,
95
92 And thus we saw the glory of the
celestial, which excels in
all things--where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever
and ever ...
95 And he makes them equal in power,
and in might, and in
dominion.
All Things Shall
Be Revealed
During the Millennium
D&C
101:32-34
32 Yea, verily I say
unto you, in that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all
things–
33
Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things
of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end
thereof–
34
Things most precious, things that are above, and things that are
beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in
heaven.
Bruce
R. McConkie
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
We have the fulness of
the everlasting gospel, meaning that we have all that is needed to gain
the fulness of salvation. We have every truth, doctrine, and principle,
every rite, power, and ordinance–all that is needed–to gain exaltation
in the highest heaven of the celestial world. But we do not know all
things; there are doctrines in endless array of which we know next to
nothing; indeed, there are more things in the darkness of the unknown
than there are in the light of the known. We do not even know what the
faithful knew in Enoch’s Zion, nor among the Nephites when they dwelt
in righteousness for generations. We do not know what is on the sealed
portion of the plates from which the Book of Mormon came. Ours is a day
for drinking milk; the day when we, as a people at least, can partake
of the meat of the word is in the future.
That
future is millennial. In that day, “all things shall become new,” saith
the Lord, “that my knowledge and glory may dwell upon all the earth....
Yea, verily I say unto you, in that day when the Lord shall come, he
shall reveal all things–Things which have passed, and hidden things
which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the
purpose and the end thereof–Things most precious, things that are
above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and
upon the earth, and in heaven.” (D&C 101:25, 32-34.) As we ponder
these heaven-sent words, we are led to exclaim: Thanks be to him who is
the Way, the Truth, and the Life, who knows all things and who seeks to
pour out his revelations, and all the knowledge of eternity, upon all
who will receive them. Ere long the dark veil of ignorance and unbelief
that covers the earth and blinds the minds of men shall be pierced.
Light and truth will fall from heaven as does rain from the clouds
above.
The
knowledge of God, the knowledge of those Gods whom it is life eternal
to know, shall be in every heart. No longer will theologians suppose
that God is a spirit essence that fills immensity while he dwells in
the human heart. No longer will philosophers pontificate about some
great first cause that inexplicably brought order into a chaotic
universe. No longer will Babylonish churches place crucifixes in the
hands, or the images of Diana of the Ephesians, as it were, and no
longer will they worship the works of their own hands in the great
cathedrals of Christendom. The knowledge of God, the truth about God,
the fact that he is a Holy Man, will come by revelation into every
human heart. The knowledge of God will cover the earth.
All
things are to be revealed in the millennial day. The sealed part of the
Book of Mormon will come forth; the brass plates will be translated;
the writings of Adam and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and prophets
without number will be revealed. We shall learn a thousand times more
about the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus than we now know. We shall
learn great mysteries of the kingdom that were not even known to those
of old who walked and talked with the Eternal One. We shall learn the
details of the creation and the origin of man and what fools mortals
are to follow the fads of the evolving evolutionary nonsense that
litters the textbooks of academia. Nothing in or on or over the earth
will be withheld from human ken, for eventually man, if he is to be as
his Maker, must know all things.
Hear in
this connection these words of Nephi: In that day, “the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Wherefore, the things of all nations shall be made known; yea, all
things shall be made known unto the children of men. There is nothing
which is secret save it shall be revealed; there is no work of darkness
save it shall be made manifest in the light; and there is nothing which
is sealed upon the earth save it shall be loosed. Wherefore, all things
which have been revealed unto the children of men shall at that day be
revealed.” (2 Ne. 30:15-18.) Surely man could not ask for more than
this in the way of light and truth and knowledge, and yet expect to
remain in the flesh as a mortal and be in process of working out his
salvation. Surely this is the day in which the Lord shall fulfill the
promise of holy writ that says: “God shall give unto you knowledge by
his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost,
[knowledge] that has not been revealed since the world was until now;
which our forefathers have awaited with anxious expectation to be
revealed in the last times, which their minds were pointed to by the
angels, as held in reserve for the fulness of their glory; a time to
come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God
or many gods, they shall be manifest.” (D&C 121:26-28.) That this
outpouring of divine goodness has already commenced is not open to
question. That it will continue, in far greater measure, after our Lord
comes again, who can doubt? (The Millennial Messiah [1982],
pp.675-677)
The Day of the Second Comforter
Jeremiah 31
34 And they shall teach
no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto
the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their
iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Bruce R.
McConkie
Complete realization of
the blessings here promised [Jer. 31:34] is Millennial, and the
knowledge of God spoken of shall be manifest by the receipt of the
Second Comforter, as the Prophet then proceeds to state, and as we
shall now consider. (Doctrinal
New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1973], 3:338)
“This generation shall
have my word through you” (D&C 5:10). Joseph Smith has given the
word, and we echo the message, and a great part of the message is that
every one of us–equally precious–has power to get in tune with the Holy
Spirit and learn personally what the prophet receives. There is going
to be a day–it is millennial, the ancient prophets (Jeremiah, for one)
foretold it–“when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord;
for all shall know Him…from the least to the greatest” (History of the
Church, 3:380). The Prophet Joseph Smith said that this promise
has reference to personal revelation, to a visitation of the Lord to an
individual (see History of the Church, 3:381). [“This
Generation Shall Have My Word through You,” Ensign, June 1980, p. 59]
Men will know God in
the millennial day because they see him. He will teach them face
to face. They will know the mysteries of his kingdom because they
are caught up to the third heaven, as was Paul. They will receive the
Second Comforter. The millennial day is the day of the Second
Comforter, and whereas but few have been blessed with this divine
association in times past, great hosts will be so blessed in times to
come.
What,
then, will be the nature of worship during the Millennium? It
will be pure and perfect, and through it men will become inheritors of
eternal life. And in this connection, be it known that it is the
privilege of the saints today to separate themselves from the world and
to receive millennial blessings in their lives. And any person who
today abides the laws that will be kept during the Millennium will
receive, here and now, the spirit and blessings of the Millennium in
his life, even though he is surrounded by a world of sin and evil. And
so we say, in the language of Joseph Smith as he finished the record of
the vision of the three degrees of glory: “Great and marvelous are the
works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he showed
unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and in
dominion; Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet
in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter; Neither is man
capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood
by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love
him, and purify themselves before him; To whom he grants this privilege
of seeing and knowing for themselves; That through the power and
manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, they may be able to
bear his presence in the world of glory. And to God and the Lamb be
glory, and honor, and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (D&C
76:114-119.) [The Millennial
Messiah [1982], p.683]